In the morning I took a junk train to Vinohradiv. My ticket cost 9 hryvnia – like 40 US cents for one hour journey. There were many stops in small villages on our route. New people embarked train and the conductor collected money from them. He has modern ticket printing machine but he do not print any ticket. It looks like a good business. Does he share the income with the colleagues in the locomotion? We are now close to the Romanian border, through the window I saw a lot post-soviet ruins…
Vinohradiv is a cozy little town with 5 or more churches of different orientation. There is also nice palace of Hungarian family Perenyi (it was Hungary here in the past) with nice, but run-down park around – see the picture.
At the end of the township you will see on e hill a romantic ruin of the castle built in 14th century…
Three days a week a narrow- track railway can take you in the toy-train to nearby Khmelnik. I hoped I will use it today. I forgot that today is May 1st – holiday. They should operate, because more people have day off and they can go and enjoy. But this is Ukraine – the staff prefere to rest… In the little Vinohradiv I found lovely pension run by Ukrainian-Italian couple. It is called Guest House Marketti – Gichki street 23. It is hard to find elsewhere in Ukraine such a nice family atmosphere and such hospitable and helpful people. Highly recommend! They charge like 13 USD per huge room with great breakfast. Wi-fi is excellent. Oksana speaks Russian and basic English…
